Information scanning in the COVID-19 pandemic: a test and expansion of the channel complementarity theory using latent class analysis.

Background: During health crisis, individuals need information to comprehend their circumstances. Channel complementarity theory posits that in meeting their informational needs, people will use different sources in a complementary fashion. This paper puts to test the main tenet of channel complementarity theory by focusing on information scanning (i.e. routine health information exposure) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile.

Method: A survey was conducted among a sample of Chilean adults (N = 2,805). The questionnaire addressed information scanning across six sources (television, radio, internet, social media, family, and friends or coworkers) and explores how socioeconomic and demographic variables, as well as COVID-19 perceived risk related to scanning. Latent class analysis was employed to identify patterns of complementarity across channels.

Results: The analysis yielded a solution of five classes, namely 'high complementarity and high frequency' (21%), 'high complementarity and low frequency' (34%), 'high frequency on television and digital media' (19%), 'mass media predominant' (11%), and 'no scanning' (15%). Educational attainment, age, and COVID-19 perceived risk were associated with scanning.

Conclusions: Television was a central channel for information scanning during the pandemic in Chile and more than half of participants scanned COVID-19 information complementarily. Our findings expand channel complementarity theory to information scanning in a non-US context and provide guidelines for designing communication interventions aiming at informing individuals during a global health crisis.